Gift
by Misoka Kai
Summary: A Late Christmas Fic about Merlin giving gifts. One-Shot.


**A/N: My first Merlin fanfic, please go easy on me... :'D It was supposed to be a Christmas fic, but since I can only access FFn through school computers and I have a Christmas holiday... -v- So, yeah. Ah well, hope you enjoy it~ English isn't my mother language and I'd tried keeping the spelling and grammar mistakes as minimal as possible. On a side note, Happy Belated Birthday to Colin Morgan! XD**

**Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Merlin. If I do, I'd try to make a 'happy' ending of my own version and not let Arthur die. :'v**

* * *

><p>Gift<p>

It was winter in Camelot, and winter means one thing; Christmas, and Christmas leads to another; a feast. Not like the royals didn't have one too many feasts a year. On the halls of the castle, not a single servant was seen without a chore. Each and every one of them hurries across one place to another, doing their chores.

Every winter, Camelot and her allied kingdoms will gather together for a feast, and this year, Camelot was the host of the feast. This added the servants' chores as they need not only to prepare for the grand feast but also to serve the needs of the visiting nobles.

Being the King's manservant was no exception. In fact, Merlin was probably one of the busiest, running non-stop from one place to another, either doing Arthur's chores, running Gaius' errands, preparing for the feast, or serving the pratty nobles' demands. Gaius had been kind enough and tried to minimize the errands for Merlin but he was still busy nonetheless. The to-do-list just seemed to keep going on and on for him. He was very tired and Arthur's constant grumbles and complains about the nobles didn't help at all.

When it was finally the time for the feast, the jobs were a bit lighter. All the servants needed to do was either transporting the foods and drinks from the royal kitchen to the hall or to stand dutifully on the side, waiting for any empty goblets to be filled.

It was in the middle of the feast though that Merlin slipped out of the hall. To hell with Arthur and his pratness, another servant could refill his goblet anytime, it's Christmas, and he had a job to do. …Well, an unofficial, self-initiated job, but a job nonetheless. It's Christmas, and it meant one thing; presents.

Since days before, in between the business, he had been thinking of what to give to his friends. First thing first, he's going to the knights first. He slowly opened the door to Percival's chamber, making sure that no one was around, before entering.

Making sure it was safe, he conjured his magic, a sleeveless chainmail materializing on his hand. The chainmail was sturdy; making sure that ordinary blade won't easily penetrate it. The damage of force of magic will also be decreased, keeping it to the minimum. Satisfied, he put the chainmail on the table and went on his way.

The next stop was Elyan's room. There, he chanted the same spell before, a chunk of enchanted metal materializing. The storing spell was really handy. This way, he could actually carry some things without being seen with him, and it didn't take space too. With this metal, he was sure Elyan could make something from it with his blacksmithing skills.

Satisfied, he headed to Leon's room next. Again, with the same spell, a glove materialized. Leon tore his pair of gloves in training before. He hoped that Leon would appreciate the new glove. Of course he didn't leave until he put up a simple spell of protection on the glove.

Finally, it was Gwaine's room. Here, he brought out a basket of apples, Gwaine's favorite. Apples were quite hard to find in Camelot and Gwaine could only obtain it before from his travels. But now that he had been staying in Camelot, he hadn't eaten these fruits for quite awhile now. Sometimes, he would whine to him or even to Arthur, at times, Arthur would give him one or two apple since the supply wasn't much to begin with, but of course, it wasn't enough for Gwaine. Merlin can just hoped that these apples would last quite awhile…

Next, he went to Gwen's. There, he conjured a bouquet of flowers which upon being touched by Gwen would release a few butterflies fluttering around. He smiled at the thought of Gwen's amazement and wonder on her face when she saw it.

Then, he went to Arthur's which was only beside Gwen's. Arthur's present was a bracelet. A metal plate covered half of the bracelet's size, joined to a braid of leather tied at one end which simply needed to be tightened to wear it. On the metal plate was carved _Arthur_ and beside it was the symbol of Camelot's dragon.

At last, he went to Gaius' chambers. For Gaius, he conjured an arrays of rare herbs that was hard to obtain. He knew Gaius wanted it some time now but it was just out of the season for the herbs thus, as far as Gaius knew, the herbs hadn't grown yet.

Going out to the stables and taking his usual horse, Merlin ride out of Camelot's gates and into the forest. There, he traced his way to Morgana's hut in the hovel. As soon as he arrived at the familiar place, he tied his horse a good distance from the hovel and covered the short distance to the hut by walking.

In front of the door, he conjured the same spell, a beautiful dark blue shawl materializing on his hand. He folded the shawl and laid it on the ground in front of the door and knocked. Of course, he quickly hide somewhere in the darkness. Soon, he could see the door open, revealing Morgana in her black dress. She looked around cautiously before noticing the shawl on the ground, picked it up, and went inside. He sighed in relief.

Morgana may be evil now, but she was once a kind girl and she was once a good friend to him too. No matter what she became now, she still deserved a present. Her change was partly his fault too, and he still felt quite guilty about it. He should have helped her with her magic but instead, he turned and pushed her away to the druids which turned to be a bad move.

Deeming it was safe, he headed back to his waiting horse and ride to the Lake of Avalon. On the lakeside, he conjured a small blue ball of light which flew up, heading to Ealdor. The blue ball of light was a give for his mother. As soon as the light reached his mother, it will disperse into small twinkling lights, warming the surroundings. Winter in Ealdor was always cold, he hoped that it would warm his mother a bit.

Sitting on the lakeside, he looked down the lake. Chanting a small spell, flower petals and strawberries appeared, slowly falling to the lake. He added glitters of light with it too. He could only hoped that these small presents reached Freya, Will, Lancelot, and his father.

Looking at the horizons, he chuckled. Thinking that if Arthur was to found out about this, he would definitely make fun of him for being such a girl. But if he did found out, he would definitely be sentenced to death for sorcery though. At the thought, he sighed, looking back on the calm waters. He lifted a handful of the water which quickly drained from his palm.

"Father, Freya, Will, Lancelot… I miss you all", he said softly.

He closed his eyes, feeling the cold wind caresses his face. He contemplated to thinking about his years in Camelot. So many things happening, so many deaths, so many wrong turns, so many close calls of Arthur's death… Sometimes, he felt the burden of his Destiny so heavy, too heavy. There were times he simply just wanted to run away, far, far away, away from Camelot, away from Arthur, away from his Destiny, but he can't. He would not. His kind needed him. He needed to bring magic back to Albion. That's why he wouldn't run. He would ensure Arthur's safety, hoping that one day he would bring peace and magic back to Albion, the Once and Future King. That's why, he's happy to be Arthur's servant _'till the day I die_.

Something wet hit his cheek. He opened his eyes and looked up. He could see snow falling. He held out his hand. The snow melted into water as soon as he touched his palm. It wasn't cold though, it's warm. As if it was a gift from Mother Earth, telling him to rest, rest for now, as the blanket of snow protected him. And rest he would, for awhile, forgetting about the burden of his Destiny.

~Owari

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Meh... Was it too sappy? ._. Not sure if I like it or not... This is just a random idea that came to my mind when hearing the song Christmas Shoes... And I remembered in a long-time memory of mine that I once stumbled across a fic with Merlin giving gifts, too. I don't remember what the gifts are in that fic tho, the gifts here are my own made up. _  
><strong>

**Oh, and, I purposely didn't put any spells there since I can't really make it up... :'D So, that part is kind of like a repetition... which seems kind of boring... and forced...**

**And a bit ramble and complain of mine from the show; the chainmails. I don't know why but the chainmails doesn't seem to protect the knight any better. ._.) I don't really know its mechanisms since I never seen a real chainmail, touch and feel it, but, it just irks me how minim the chainmail protects someone. :'DD LOL.**

**Anyways, hope you enjoy it and thank you for reading! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! (Better Late Than Never they say :'D)**

**-Kai**


End file.
